Marin Rowing: New talent helps boys-eight boat compete

AS BLAKE PATTERSON and Brennan Wertz, the two newest members of the Marin Rowing Association's varsity-eight boys boat, cross the finish line at the San Diego Crew Classic this weekend they're hoping it'll be a first-place finish.

After going undefeated for the past two years, the boat lost to Long Beach by 0.9 seconds last month at the Oakland Invitational.

"The fact that we lost, which was sort of a reality check — we were unbeatable — pointed us to a new zone, a new mindset," said Patterson, who joined the boat the week after the loss.

"We kind of knew Long Beach was going to be good but we didn't know how good," coach Dustin Kraus said.

The loss came after the culmination of two key events. The team graduated five strong seniors while other teams were stepping up in the hopes of overtaking the Marin boat.

"Teams are really out there to come get us," Wertz said. "People know what Marin is, they want to come and get us."

"This season won't be easy," Kraus said. "Streaks like that can't go on forever. People get influxes of talent."

As some talent leaves, other talent matures and moves up — which is what Wertz speculates happened to Long Beach.

"Last year they had an extremely good lightweight boat and I think that has transferred to the varsity level," he said.

As a member of the boys novice boat, Wertz raced against Long Beach in San Diego last year. Patterson was also at the event as a member of the boys lightweight boat. He said the experience will help them both.

"To know the racecourse is very helpful. Just being prepared for everything that's around me," he said, referring to the layout, placement of the markers, and the high-intensity atmosphere.

The event, which takes place in Mission Bay, draws around 4,400 athletes from over 100 teams, giving Marin a chance to scope out the season's competition.

Besides the high attendance for participants, the event attracts more sponsors and a larger audience than usual.

"The event itself is really a spectacle and in the rowing world that's not very common," Kraus said.

It's also the first leg of what Kraus called the "Big Three;" San Diego, regionals and nationals.

"San Diego is just one of those regattas that we take really seriously," he said.

With the addition of Wertz in September and Patterson a couple of weeks ago, Kraus has traded experience for enthusiasm.

"They don't necessarily have the race maturity, but at the same time they give a youthful, excited feel to the boat," Kraus said. "One of the really positive things about both of them is that they're really, really driven."

After losing to Long Beach, the rest of the boat is driven as well.

"That loss to Long Beach is kind of like that check," Kraus said. "Although we hold really high expectations, it's not a given."

Rather than being disheartening, he added, it's spurred the group to action.

"We know we have fast competition and its not going to be easy," Wertz said. "We know what we have to do, but we know it's going to be a tough competition."

At 6-foot-5, Wertz adds power to the fifth seat. Patterson sits fourth, and the two will have to work together to help power the boat.

"We've done a lot of good training in the past month," he said, and it's not just his boat that's been hard at work.

"Our whole team this whole year has been working really hard," he added.

Marin Rowing is sending three boats from the boys program, two boats from the girls program, four boats from the men's masters and four boats from the women's masters.

"It's good we're taking a lot of boats," Wertz said, and gave credit to the coaches and parents. "There's a lot of background stuff that goes on and we couldn't do it without them."

When the boats get on the water, however, it'll be about what each rower has learned over the last month.

"We've made some good strides," Kraus said. "We're always working to get faster but I'd say the boat is faster now than when we last raced."